The "This Might Be A Stupid Question, But...." Thread

[Eisa]

With the captain thing, there is actually no rule that says the captain must stay with the ship while it sinks.

There is also no rule that says women and children must get off first.

[Firecat]

There's that saying about rats leaving a sinking ship - does that say more about the ship or about the rats?

I mean, does it mean that the metaphorical "ship" is going down or that the people leaving it are rats?

In the days of old wooden ships, rats in the cargo holds were pretty common (one of the reasons a ship's cat was popular). So, if the ship was starting to sink, the rats would know first because of the water coming in, and would come up running up out of the holds, trying to get off the ship.

So I think the expression can be used both ways. It can mean that the people leaving are "abandoning ship" as they perceive that it may be "sinking." And it can mean that the people leaving a bad situation first are "rats," as they're the first to leave when things get dicey.

[Giggity]

Back down over the 17th and 18th centuries, up in the early 1800s, back down starting in the 1840s and drifting lower and lower until the early 1900s when they came down sometimes over the buttocks before mostly disappearing in the 1920s.

How did they ... um ... oh, I don't think I even want to know.

[Elfqueen13]

Back down over the 17th and 18th centuries, up in the early 1800s, back down starting in the 1840s and drifting lower and lower until the early 1900s when they came down sometimes over the buttocks before mostly disappearing in the 1920s.

How did they ... um ... oh, I don't think I even want to know.

Carefully. Very, very carefully.

[Shopaholic]

Back down over the 17th and 18th centuries, up in the early 1800s, back down starting in the 1840s and drifting lower and lower until the early 1900s when they came down sometimes over the buttocks before mostly disappearing in the 1920s.

How did they ... um ... oh, I don't think I even want to know.

A lady doesn't do such things!

[Sterling]

As far as lacing ones on coset.  I have one that hooks in front and laces in back.  It is steel boned.  If Ileave it tighly laced I can't hook the front by myself.  But If I hook it thenpull the laces I can actually pull the laces tight enough to be proper and give myself a smaller waist.  I I want the truely "tight" lace look then yes someone has to help.

However if you go the "tight" lace route you really couldn't do all your household chores so maids wouldn't have done that.  I don't usually do mine that way because when I wear them I am going dancing and I want to be able to move.  I also sometimes want to wear mine to work because I love the way they feel on my back.  They really are supportive.

[EngineerChick]

OTOH, everyone leaves a sinking ship, except the captain, who traditionally 'goes down with it'.

So that's my question- are captains really supposed to go down with their ship?

IIRC, they are supposed to be the last one off. So if that means going down with the ship, yes.

Some co-workers were discussing a recent sunken ship, and how the captain was one of the first ones off, not the last. I guess he caught heck for that.

One famous case of the captain catching heck for leaving the ship early was the sinking of the MTS Oceanos, where the passengers were rescued due to the efforts of the ship's entertainers, as the crew had already left the ship.  http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MTS_Oceanos  There was a very interesting study of this case on the Discovery Channel a few years ago.

[tnpenguinbaby]

In the Tracy Lawrence song "Paint Me A Birmingham," what is a Birmingham? I know it's a city in Alabama, but that doesn't seem to fit the song. 

Based on the chorus, I think he wants the artist to paint him a picture of his lost love and they lived in Birmingham.   I am a fairly literal thinker so I could be missing a whole level, however!

Well could you Paint Me A Birmingham
Make it look just the way I planned
A little house on the edge of town
Porch goin’ all the way around
Put her there in the front yard swing
Cotton dress make it, early spring
For awhile she’ll be, mine again
If you can Paint Me A Birmingham.

[Iris]

There's that saying about rats leaving a sinking ship - does that say more about the ship or about the rats?

I mean, does it mean that the metaphorical "ship" is going down or that the people leaving it are rats?

In the days of old wooden ships, rats in the cargo holds were pretty common (one of the reasons a ship's cat was popular). So, if the ship was starting to sink, the rats would know first because of the water coming in, and would come up running up out of the holds, trying to get off the ship.

So I think the expression can be used both ways. It can mean that the people leaving are "abandoning ship" as they perceive that it may be "sinking." And it can mean that the people leaving a bad situation first are "rats," as they're the first to leave when things get dicey.

This. I thought it was just a simile based on the actual event. There could be a LOT of rats on those ships, so there'd be lots of rats getting out.

Hence "Like rats leaving a sinking ship" - lots all bailing out at once in a complete hurry with no thought to anyone else.

or

"Like rats leaving a sinking ship" - naturally the rats were abandoning ship first thing, while the humans were still doing all the sailor-y things that people do to save a ship. So also refers to someone(s) deserting straight away without any thought to the other people in the situation.

So I always thought it could be a metaphor for lots of people leaving at once in a hurry, or a negative comment on conduct, or a combination of the two.

[Twik]

With the captain thing, there is actually no rule that says the captain must stay with the ship while it sinks.

There is also no rule that says women and children must get off first.

No, but it is in general assumed that when there are crew and passengers, the professionals (crew) stay until all passengers are safe. You kind of want the people who know how to work emergency systems to hang around long enough to put them in place. In the Greek cruiseliner sinking someone mentioned above, the passengers had to rely on the band to tell them what to do.

As far as the captain going down with his ship, as opposed to being the last one to leave, that was never a rule, more a matter of professional pride.

[Slartibartfast]

There's that saying about rats leaving a sinking ship - does that say more about the ship or about the rats?

I mean, does it mean that the metaphorical "ship" is going down or that the people leaving it are rats?

Regarding menstruation:
I read that in ancient Egypt the tampon was debuted when high-class women began sticking bits of cotton inside.
There is that book "The Red Tent" by Anita Diamant - the title references the tent that women were confined to during their period.
IIRC, they would sit on straw mats which were later burned.

Leviticus 12 and Leviticus 15 have rules for Old Testament women on their periods, too - they're "unclean" for a week, and anyone who touches them or touches what they've been sitting or lying on is unclean until the end of the day.  "Unclean" in this case is a ceremonial thing, sort of, but it's also a practical issue.  (Many of the Jewish laws had practical scientific reasons - preventing the spread of disease, keeping food from spoiling, ensuring proper nutrition, etc.)  If you don't have a good way to keep menstrual blood contained, and you live in a hot climate with no good disease control, it makes sense for the person who is bleeding to be effectively quarantined for a while.  (There's a section for men who have "discharges," too.)

It did come in handy at least once - Rachel* hid some valuables in her seat cushion and sat on them, and when her father came looking for them she claimed it was her time of the month so he wouldn't touch the cushion and thus didn't find them.

*Woman from Genesis - Jacob meets her and falls in love, and agrees to work for her father for seven years so he can marry her.  The father tricks him into marrying her older sister Leah, so Jacob had to stay and work for her father for another seven years so he can marry Rachel too.  Then Rachel can't conceive so she gives Jacob her maidservant, and then Leah gives Jacob her maidservant, and Jacob ends up with four wives and twelve sons and Andrew Lloyd Weber wrote a musical about their dysfunctional family 

[DottyG]

and Jacob ends up with four wives and twelve sons and Andrew Lloyd Weber wrote a musical about their dysfunctional family 

The way you phrased this made me laugh!

And, I love that play!  I've seen it several times now.

[tnpenguinbaby]

The Red Tent is such an outstanding book.  It's one of several that I make a point to re-read on a regular basis.

[tallone]

Is it really so dangerous to live in Australia? I have friends from there who I'm sure are trying to scare me when they talk about spiders and snakes, crocodiles and sharks etc etc etc and that I shouldn't come over because so many people aren't prepared and die.

But it doesn't seem to be in the news that all these naive tourists are dying over there so I think they're making it up!

[Giggity]

One of my landmen just took a job in Perth. It's supposed to run three to five years. I'll keep you posted re his welfare and what awfulness he encounters, besides the undeniable horror (to him) that the nearest Starbucks is like 1800 miles away.